StepBOT Could Become the Most Entertaining Way to Get Fit with Android Wear

There's been a lot of attempts at trying to make keeping fit fun over the last couple of years, and some of them have been more successful than others. Tongue-in-cheek methods like Zombies, Run! often get people started in running or even just walking, but they very rarely succeed in making sure people keep on going for daily walks or runs. A new Kickstarter project, StepBOT, hopes to not only fix that, but also give our wearables one more use besides notifications and too much data about how many hours we did or didn't stay still for during the night. It looks brilliant.

The idea behind StepBOT is a simple one; to have fun while getting in shape or keeping fit. How the creators of StepBOT aim to do that however, is where things get interesting. Combing a simple step counter (which can be your Jawbone, Fitbit or Android Wear device) with the sort of mechanics kids of the 90s with their Digimon and Tamagotchi pets will be familiar with, StepBOT gamifies your steps. It takes the data from your wearable device and then allows you to use your step count to help your buddy reach his goals or get him back on his feet.

The game side of things will include a variety of different characters, of which the Icebear is jumping out at me as my favorite, and there are RPG elements to the whole thing with different powerups and such that you can use in conjunction to help create a more powerful character. You can compete alongside others and if you have an Android Wear watch, you can go ahead and play the game on your wrist pretty much too. Right now, StepBOT is asking for funding at Kickstarter and while you might be asking why this is for a "simple game", these things take time and well, time is money. The team is looking for $5,000 and as of writing they're just halfway with $2,591 already pledged. You can pledge as little as $5 to get access to the Beta that's due to hit during October or, you can do what I did and pledge $15 to get some groovy decals as well. You can take a look at the Kickstarter page for more info - including a working Flash demo - and the video below.

For years now I've had a heavy interest in technology, growing up with 8-bit computers and gaming consoles has fed into an addiction to everything that beeps. Android saved me from the boredom of iOS years ago and I love watching the platform grow. As an avid reader and writer nothing pleases me more than to write about the exciting world of Android, Google and mobile technology as a whole.